Fair Chances Voting

Ever feel like you couldn't win because you were in a minority?  That you always get outvoted and there is nothing you can do except object?  It actually may not be fair.  Fair chances voting gives everyone a fair chance at getting their way, even if they are in a minority or have a minority opinion.  Instead of the winner being determined by a majority of votes, each vote has an equal chance of winning.  A random selection (like a lottery) picks the winner.  This allows a minority to win in proportion to the size of group.  The majority is the most likely to win, but the minority might also win.  Because of this uncertainty, compromise is much more likely.  See the paper Fair Chances Voting and Convergent Committees for a detailed picture of how this can work.  For how to use the tool see below.

To use the tool, enter the candidates in the candidate table and the number of votes the candidate has.  For example, you may be deciding a yes or no question.  The two candidates would be "Yes" and "No."  If there are more candidates than two, for example when you are selecting five committee members from a slate of ten candidates, you would add candidates using the "Add Candidate" button until you had a candidate table with ten slots and you would change the number of winners to five.  After you have entered all the candidates and their votes have been entered, you select the "Finalize Votes" button at the bottom left.  After this is pressed, no changes can be made to the Candidate Table.  Adjust the amount of time you want the process to take and the number of pauses you want in the process with the sliders that become available at this point.  The process is spread out in time to allow people to talk and come to a compromise as votes are eliminated in a fair random process.   Candidate's chances of winning change as votes are eliminated and may cause them to desire a compromise.  

To start the elimination process, press the "Start" button.  During a pause, if a compromise is reached press the compromise reached button.  To resume the process press the "Start" button again. 

It is possible track the votes of voters.  In this case, you can push the "Itemize Voters" button and enumerate the voters and the candidates they voted for.  The votes are transferred to the Candidate Table automatically.  For example, a shareholder of a company might have many votes and want to distribute them over several candidates for a board of directors election.  As the elimination proceeds, the votes remaining the voter is displayed.  The voter that sees their candidate's chances change, may want to compromise as the process continues.